Who are some of the smartest hockey players you have ever watched

[karltonian]

What little I've seen of Celebrini so far has him as up there as a prospect. But I sure wish I had more to f***ing go on.

 

[Brookbank]

Marty Turco was no fool



That was just a joke but he used to go to the bench at weird times for the team to go up a skater. And he was the only one who did it. He did it in the 07 series vs Vancouver.

Don Cherry also said Turco was the smartest goalie in the NHL

 

[Brookbank]

I didn't want to say Bedard because he's so young but some ppl are mentioning Mitchkov , a guy with a grand total of 3 NHL games. Not that i doubt hes intellegent

 

[BenningHurtsMySoul]

Andrei Markov and Sergei Gonchar. Two Russian defensemen.

Both absolute generals from the backend who controlled the game with their mind more so than their physical talents.

Their eloquent manipulation of the opposition was always a treat to watch.

It's a joy to see players dissect and make plays from nothing. Those two were top 10 defenseman of their era.

Hockey at its best is not speed of feet or speed of hands, it is the speed of the mind that shines brightest.

Sergei Zubov is another one

 

[cjm502]

Datsyuk, he was in a league of his own when it came to watching guys behind him in the reflection in the glass. The king of creativity in so many ways. Jack of all trades, master of many.

 

[nbwingsfan]

In any area of the game, really, offensively, defensively. Anything either it's a defender , or a sniper who finds spots or a two way player who's always a step ahead of the play

Datsyuk was an absolute magician on the ice IQ off the charts

 

[Rompane]

Barkov reads game extremely well.

 

[HabzSauce]

Price

Crosby

Datsyuk

Markov

Sedins

Kucherov

Marty St Louis

Hasek

No order

 

[Colt.45Orr]

David Krejci was up there but was usually saddled with awful wingers the 2nd half of his career.

 

[Kshahdoo]

Elias Pettersson. Got 11.6M/year and now feels himself relaxed. Isn't it smart?